UPDATE: Cbanker: Russian banks receive profit of 115 bln rbl in Jan

(Adds details in paragraphs 5–6, 9)

BOR, Moscow Region, Feb 9 (PRIME) -- The combined net profit of Russian banks amounted to about 115 billion rubles in January, Central Bank Chairwoman Elvira Nabiullina said at a meeting with representatives of the Association of Regional Banks of Russia on Thursday.

“We see that in January, according to preliminary data already, we had a net profit. An about 115 billion ruble monthly net profit. This is a good figure,” Nabiullina said.

Russian banks attained a 141 billion ruble net profit in December 2016 and a 930 billion ruble one in 2016.

Loans to companies increased 0.01% and loans to households fell 0.4%, adjusted for currency exchange rate changes in January.

The banking sector has achieved a liquidity surplus but this state is unlikely to be stable, Nabiullina said. “We see this transition as unstable so far and at times there can be a situation of a liquidity crunch on the market. It will depend on the one hand, on the pace of spending, the evenness of budget spending, on the fiscal policy. The second factor that influences this is the strategy of banks to fulfill the averaging of the reserves requirement.”

The central bank sees 7-day depositary auctions as the main monetary policy tool.

Nabiullina said that foreign exchange interventions by the Finance Ministry must not be seen as an attempt to influence the ruble rate.

“This is not the goal and … we will continue to stick to the floating rate policies, which is an inseparable part of inflation targeting policies,” Nabiullina said.

The official also said that the amount of dubious foreign transactions of Russian banks decreased 60% to 190 billion rubles in 2016. The central bank continues to control the issue.

(59.5129 rubles – U.S. $1)

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